The present invention relates to the preparation of gelatin based food products, and more particularly to providing a method for forming a gelatin food product having a water soluble substrate on the surface forming a layer or coating which resists bleeding or leeching of colors thereon when painted with oil based edible paints. Dyes, paints, colorants, or inks are all included as means of coloring within the scope of the present invention.
Gels are colloids in which the dispersed phase has combined with the dispersion medium to produce a semisolid material such as a jelly or JELL-O type edible food product. Gel based rood products provide a low calorie healthy snack food or dessert such as are available in single or multiple serving portions. The food products are shelf stable or refrigerated and contain gelatin, agar, furcellaran, carrageenan, low methoxyl pectin, locust bean gum, xanthan gum, or other gelling agents. Conventional layered dessert gels having different ingredients or colors are formed by first forming a bottom gelled layer and then adding an upper layer onto the already gelled bottom layer. Because the colors are typically formed from water soluble ingredients, color migration occurs over time. It is desirable to maintain color stability in Ready to eat gel desserts which are pre-packaged and sold in single servings in retail stores; therefor, color migration can be a problem when marketing multi-colored and multi-layered gel products.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,417,990 by Soedjak et al. which issued in May of 1995 teaches the use of multi layered and multi colored gelled products using water soluble colorants and complexing agents (polyamino acids and protein materials) for colorants to prevent the colorant from migrating within the gelled layer. The crux of the '990 patent is to identify a variety of water soluble compounds such as polyamino acids, polyarginine, polylysine and polyhistidine capable of forming water soluble complexes with commonly used food colorants.
The vast majority of prior art relating to decorating pertains to confections and baked goods and the means or methods for forming three dimensional decorations and designs, usually by application of additional foodstuffs such as icing, flour, or glaze prior to applying water soluble rood coloring, food dyes and the like to obtain the desired design, color and configuration. A problem occurs because these pre-cooked items are typically porous in nature and application of a water soluble paint or colorants thereto results in bleeding of the dye or paint and blurring or the design.
A method of applying edible paint to a food product is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 3,537,406 by Ort which issued in November of 1970 which teaches applying designs to baked goods by silk-screening edible inks onto “half-proof” or partially risen rolls or breads. However, silk-screening permits but one color ink to be applied at a time; therefore, if it is desired to decorate a baked good with a multicolored design, several different silkscreens must be made, and a corresponding number of inking steps must be employed. Due to the amorphous nature of dough, it is difficult to insure proper registration of the several inks so that they are each in the proper places with respect to one another. The Ort reference coats the dough with flour or glycerin prior to transferring the ink to the transfer.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,560,562 by Schroeder issued in December of 1985 teaches a combination of a thin sheet of marshmallow enclosed and sealed in a plastic film wherein the film is frosted to allow creative markings thereon to serve as patterns for making cutouts from the sheet which may be colored by a food coloring dye.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,285,978 by Quinlivan which issued in August of 1981 teaches a decorative design formed upon baked goods by transferring a preprinted design from a transfer material to an uncooked dough surface. The dough surface is coated with a thin layer of flour or a glaze prior to applying a water soluble ink to the surface. One ink composition is water-leachable prior to baking while being water-resistant thereafter.
U.S. Patent Publication 2006/0013928 by Steet et al. published in January of 2006 teaches an aqueous edible paint composition particularly useful for painting on fat-based substrates; U.S. Pat. No. 6,887,504 by Palmer et al. discloses an apparatus for decorating food with an edible substrate using a flexible nib and U.S. Pat. No. 6,299,374 by Naor et al. uses capillary feed to provide a marking instrument both of which are incorporated by reference herein.
U.S. Patent Publication 20060251775 by Anderson et al. published Nov. 6, 2006 discloses solid edible paints which can be diluted with water to produce an edible watercolor based paint and is hereby incorporated by reference.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,717,571 by Okonogi et al. utilizes gelling agents having different gelling set temperatures to form patterns.
Other prior art relates to multilayered gelatin desserts but does not address the decorating aspect. One example of such prior art is U.S. Pat. No. 3,579,355—Wyss, et. al.
Although some manufactures have developed paints and dyes for oil based applications such as for application to sugar based surfaces such as icing, oils, butter based products, and oil based surfaces such as cookies and cakes, none have produced products which allow oil based colors to be applied to water based products such as gelatin or milk based substrates.